February 18, 2026

Patch 26.4 Notes

Champions Summary

Patch Overview

Patch Highlights

Patch 26.4 is a large early-season balance pass, with 33 champion changes and extra attention on junglers that also have primary lane roles.
Petals of Spring Camille, Jayce, Katarina, Lillia, and Yasuo arrive alongside Divine Architect Porcelain Aurelion Sol on February 19.

Winter Sports Skins Return

The Winter Sports legacy skins return for a one-week window from February 19 to February 26, 2026.
Curling Veigar, Festival Kassadin, Ice Toboggan Corki, Vancouver Amumu, Whistler Village Twitch, Team Spirit Anivia, The Mighty Jax, and Union Jack Fiddlesticks are included.

Champions

The champion pass trims high-performing carries and scaling picks while helping underused mids, bot laners, and several jungle off-role experiments.
Most of the direct nerfs target outliers from the new season's item and experience changes, while the buffs focus on reliability, clear speed, and spell access.

Items

Hexoptics C44 gets a stronger greedy marksman hook, needing less range for maximum bonus damage and holding its takedown bonus range longer.
The item section is narrow, but it reinforces Riot's goal of making late-game basic attack damage stacking more appealing.

Summoner Spells

Smite and Ignite no longer trigger Omnivamp, keeping damaging summoner spells outside lifesteal-style systems.
The change lines up with Lee Sin's W wording update and removes another edge case for returning Omnivamp rules.

ARAM Mayhem

ARAM Mayhem gets faster augment panel hovers, a Golden Reroll progression reward, and many nerfs to overperforming augments and sets.
The back half is mostly bugfixes, covering duplicate augment selection, anvil selection, summoner swaps, item upgrade effects, and several set interactions.

ARAM

Zaahen is specifically reduced for ARAM, dealing less damage and taking more damage.
No wider ARAM champion list is included outside the mode-specific Ionia Cup note.

ARAM Ionia Cup

The Ionia Cup uses ARAM for this patch's Clash event.
Registration begins February 16 at 11:00 AM local time, with tournament windows on February 21 and 22.

Arena

Arena balance focuses on extremes: Pantheon and Ahri are nerfed, Lulu, K'Sante, Braum, and Rite of the Forge God are helped, and Maokai is reshaped.
Hellfire Hatchet loses a large amount of current-health damage while gaining a higher maximum-health multiplier, and Hexoptics gets longer duration.

Demacia Rising

Demacia Rising receives fixes for combat buff application, late Act 1 event progression, allied survival in the Chapter 4 finale, and music dropouts.
Riot also calls out known incorrect text on Demacian Steel - Guard and Battle High.

Disruptive Pinging Detections

Riot begins detecting extreme repeated ping spam aimed at teammates and can temporarily reduce ping access for those cases.
Normal strategic, playful, or celebratory pinging is not intended to be affected.

Bugfixes & QoL Changes

The League bugfix list is short for this page, covering Rengar passive extension and High Noon Jhin's Tier 2 boots running animation.
Most of the patch's cleanup work lives in ARAM Mayhem, Arena, and Demacia Rising rather than the main QoL section.

Champions

A large Summoner's Rift champion pass trims early-season outliers, helps several underplayed picks, and tests jungle support for lane-primary champions.

NERF

Ambessa

Ambessa jungle loses monster damage on Q and Sundering Slam, trimming clear speed without touching lane trading.

Q - Cunning Sweep

Bonus Damage to Monsters: 150 ⇒ 125

BUFF

Annie

Annie gets more Q damage after rank one and a flat 10-second Molten Shield cooldown, helping both mid burst and support shielding uptime.

Q - Disintegrate

Base Damage: 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 ⇒ 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260

E - Molten Shield

Cooldown: 12 / 11.5 / 11 / 10.5 / 10 seconds ⇒ 10 seconds

NERF

Aphelios

Aphelios loses a full rank of passive bonus AD scaling, lowering his damage from early to late game.

Passive - The Hitman and the Seer

Bonus AD: 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 ⇒ 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 20 / 24

BUFF

Brand

Brand jungle gains slightly faster clears through higher Blaze monster damage and a larger non-epic monster cap.

Passive - Blaze

Ablaze Monster Damage: 265% ⇒ 270%
Non-Epic Monster Damage Cap: 40 ⇒ 50

NERF

Braum

Braum's late-game engage is weaker, with less ultimate damage after rank one and a longer cooldown at every rank.

R - Glacial Fissure

Base Damage: 150 / 300 / 450 ⇒ 150 / 250 / 350
Cooldown: 120 / 100 / 80 ⇒ 130 / 115 / 100 seconds

BUFF

Camille

Hookshot now grants its attack speed after any wall dash, giving Camille more reliable follow-up even when the stun misses.

E - Hookshot

Always On Point: Attack speed is now gained when Camille dashes off a wall, regardless of whether or not she hits an enemy champion.

BUFF

Darius

Darius gets part of his jungle monster modifier back, improving clear speed without buffing lane trades.

Passive - Hemorrhage

Monster Damage: 2x ⇒ 2.5x

BUFF

Fizz

Fizz gains a much larger W monster damage bonus, making jungle clears less punishing while leaving lane damage alone.

W - Seastone Trident

Bonus Monster Damage: 60 ⇒ 90

BUFF

Graves

Quickdraw stacks now grant more armor and magic resist, making sustained skirmish and bruiser builds sturdier.

E - Quickdraw

Armor per Stack: 4 / 7 / 10 / 13 / 16 ⇒ 7 / 10 / 13 / 16 / 19
MR per Stack: 2 / 3.5 / 5 / 6.5 / 8 ⇒ 3.5 / 5 / 6.5 / 8 / 9.5

NERF

Gwen

Gwen loses burst on Q and R, with a small minion modifier increase preserving some wave control.

Q - Snip Snip!

Base Damage per Snip: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 ⇒ 10 / 13.5 / 17 / 20.5 / 24
Minion Damage Modifier: 0.75x ⇒ 0.8x

R - Needlework

Base Damage per Needle: 35 / 65 / 95 ⇒ 30 / 50 / 70

BUFF

Hwei

Hwei gets bigger ally shielding from Pool of Reflection and a lower rank-one/rank-two ultimate cooldown, rewarding coordinated teamfight setups.

WW - Pool of Reflection

Maximum Shield Value: 100 / 125 / 150 / 175 / 200 ⇒ 100 / 140 / 180 / 220 / 260
Ally Shield Mod: 75% ⇒ 85%

R - Spiraling Despair

Cooldown: 140 / 115 / 80 ⇒ 120 / 100 / 80

BUFF

Illaoi

Illaoi tentacles scale to a higher late-game damage cap, giving top-lane level scaling more payoff.

Passive - Prophet of an Elder God

Tentacle Base Damage: 9-180 (based on level) ⇒ 9-200 (based on level)

NERF

Jinx

Jinx loses armor growth, making the crit-scaling marksman easier to punish in extended games.

Base Stats

Armor Growth: 4.7 ⇒ 4.2

NERF

Kassadin

Kassadin's late-game durability and E slow are reduced, preserving his damage while making his scaling windows easier to contest.

Base Stats

Health Growth: 119 ⇒ 113

E - Force Pulse

Slow: 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90% ⇒ 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70%

NERF

Kayle

Kayle's Q max is weaker after rank one, pulling down her preferred early spell path.

Q - Radiant Blast

Base Damage: 60 / 100 / 140 / 180 / 220 ⇒ 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180

NERF

Kennen

Slicing Maelstrom keeps its rank-one cooldown but no longer becomes available faster at ranks two and three.

R - Slicing Maelstrom

Cooldown: 120 / 100 / 80 ⇒ 120

ADJUSTED

Lee Sin

Iron Will's sustain is consolidated into Omnivamp, making its interaction rules clearer across minions, monsters, and champions.

W - Iron Will

Spell Vamp No More: Lee Sin W2 grants Life Steal and Spell Vamp. Lee Sin is unable to heal with W2 and Smite on either minions, jungle monsters or Champions ⇒ Lee Sin W2 grants Omnivamp which will apply on minions, monsters, and Champions

ADJUSTED

Lux

Lux trades some starting mana for stronger mana regen, earlier Q access, and a lower early W cooldown, especially helping support lanes.

Base Stats

Base Mana: 480 ⇒ 440
Starting Mana Regen: 7 ⇒ 9

Q - Light Binding

Cooldown: 11 / 10.5 / 10 / 9.5 / 9 ⇒ 10

W - Prismatic Barrier

Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 ⇒ 12 / 11.5 / 11 / 10.5 / 10

BUFF

Maokai

Maokai gets more Bramble Smash monster damage, pushing his jungle clear closer to his top and support viability.

Q - Bramble Smash

Bonus Monster Damage: 120 / 130 / 140 / 150 / 160 ⇒ 140 / 150 / 160 / 170 / 180

ADJUSTED

Naafiri

Naafiri's sustain and spell costs are reshaped to curb mid-lane spam while keeping early Q trades available.

Base Stats

Base Health Regen: 7.5 ⇒ 6
Health Regen Growth: 0.7 ⇒ 0.6

Q - Darkin Daggers

Mana Cost: 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 ⇒ 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90

E - Eviscerate

Mana Cost: 35 ⇒ 40

NERF

Qiyana

Qiyana loses health growth, giving opponents more room to punish expert mid-lane all-ins over time.

Base Stats

Health Growth: 121 ⇒ 115

NERF

Rengar

Rengar's Q profile is flattened and Ferocity scaling is reduced, bringing down some of his expert-level burst.

Q - Savagery

Damage: 30 / 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 (+ 100 / 103.75 / 107.5 / 111.25 / 115% total AD) ⇒ 20 / 55 / 90 / 125 / 160 (+ 105% total AD)
Ferocity Damage: 30 - 235 (based on level) (+130% total AD) ⇒ 35 - 240 (based on level) (+120% total AD)

NERF

Rumble

Rumble loses base health and early ultimate damage, making lane punishment and wave-state recovery less forgiving.

Base Stats

Base Health: 655 ⇒ 640

R - The Equalizer

Maximum Damage: 700 / 1050 / 1400 ⇒ 600 / 1000 / 1400

ADJUSTED

Ryze

Realm Warp now behaves more predictably near the edge of the portal, reducing missed transports caused by pathing.

R - Realm Warp

All Aboard: No longer refuses to grab a champion if they're currently pathing out of the circle while near the edge.

BUFF

Samira

Samira's Q and R now apply life steal at full effectiveness, improving Bloodthirster-style sustain.

Q - Flair

Life Steal Effectiveness: 80% ⇒ 100%

R - Inferno Trigger

Life Steal Effectiveness: 80% ⇒ 100%

ADJUSTED

Senna

Senna shifts spell damage toward bonus AD scaling and away from base values, favoring offensive builds over low-AD utility setups.

Q - Piercing Darkness

Damage: 30 / 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 (+ 40% bonus AD) ⇒ 30 / 55 / 80 / 105 / 130 (+ 60% bonus AD)

W - Last Embrace

Damage: 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+ 70% bonus AD) ⇒ 70 / 110 / 150 / 190 / 230 (+ 90% bonus AD)

NERF

Swain

Swain loses AP-scaling ultimate damage and W/R slow strength, targeting bot and mid damage without heavily changing support durability.

W - Vision of Empire

Slow: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70% ⇒ 50% at all ranks

R - Demonic Ascension

Damage per Second Scaling: 5% AP ⇒ 4% AP
Demonflare Damage Scaling: 50% AP ⇒ 40% AP
Demonflare Slow: 75% ⇒ 50%

NERF

Syndra

Syndra's W and R base damage are lower, trimming guaranteed burst while leaving Q poke and Scatter the Weak intact.

W - Force of Will

Base Damage: 70 / 105 / 140 / 175 / 210 ⇒ 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 / 190

R - Unleashed Power

Base Damage: 90 / 130 / 170 ⇒ 80 / 120 / 160

BUFF

Teemo

Teemo jungle gets faster Toxic Shot monster damage, helping clears without changing lane poison damage.

E - Toxic Shot

Monster Damage: 145% ⇒ 160%

NERF

Twitch

Twitch loses scaling health and armor, making his glass-cannon item builds easier to punish.

Base Stats

Health Growth: 104 ⇒ 98
Armor Growth: 4.2 ⇒ 4

BUFF

Udyr

Q and W rank-ups now give more on-hit damage and shielding, strengthening both Q-max pressure and W-second durability.

Q - Wilding Claw

Base Bonus Damage On-Hit: 5 / 11 / 17 / 23 / 29 / 35 ⇒ 5 / 13 / 21 /29 / 37 / 45

W - Iron Mantle

Base Shield Strength: 45 / 60 / 75 / 90 / 105 / 120 ⇒ 45 / 65 / 85 / 105 / 125 / 145

BUFF

Xayah

Xayah gets cheaper Q and E casts plus a shorter W cooldown, giving her more spellweaving and feather setup uptime.

Q - Double Daggers

Mana Cost: 50 ⇒ 35

W - Deadly Plumage

Cooldown: 20 / 19 / 18 / 17 / 16 ⇒ 18 / 17 / 16 / 15 / 14 seconds

E - Bladecaller

Mana Cost: 30 ⇒ 20

NERF

Zac

Zac trades Q's max-health scaling for bonus-health scaling and loses ultimate damage, cutting burst against squishier targets.

Q - Stretching Strikes

Damage per Hit: 40 / 55 / 70 / 85 / 100 (+ 30% AP) (+ 3% of Zac's maximum health) ⇒ 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+ 30% AP) (+ 3% of Zac's bonus health)

R - Let's Bounce!

Initial Base Damage: 140 / 210 / 280 ⇒ 120 / 190 / 260
Maximum Base Damage: 350 / 525 / 700 ⇒ 300 / 475 / 650